Cold enough for you? Forecasters say no
Temps have to drop quite a bit before extreme cold warning could be issued
Temperatures in Niagara have been frigid for the past few days.
But not cold enough for local governments and Environment Canada to issue alerts and warnings in the near future, it seems.
Niagara Region previously issued cold-weather alerts, but is no longer doing so. Social agencies and lower-tier municipalities have been advised to follow Environment Canada when they feel a warning should be communicated to the public, says manager of environmental health Peter Jekel.
The Region’s threshold of -15C was a “consensus amongst southern tier health units. However, it did not take into account anything regarding wind chill, which the Environment Canada warning does,” he said Friday.
When the Region used to initiate an alert through its old system, “it was still the responsibility of the lower-tier municipality as well as social service agencies, including those at the Region, to consider options available to deal with the alert such as opening up spaces for shelters,” he added.
Niagara’s towns and cities are not directed by the Region when it’s time to issue weather warnings.
Meteorologist Gerald Cheng said Environment Canada will issue an “extreme cold warning” when temperatures are expected to drop to -30C, with wind chill, for at least two hours. None have been issued yet in Niagara, he said Friday with thermometers sitting at around -11C, wind chill factored in.
He admits it’s cold, but perhaps not as chilly as it feels for some people — wrapping up a “particularly mild” January.
“Suddenly, we have to get used to the cold again. It’s been a jolt to our system,” he said.
The current cold will last a while longer.
“I think we’re going to stay below seasonal, at least for a bit,” said Cheng, noting seasonal temperatures this time of year are a daytime high of -1C and a nighttime low of -8C.
He said things will warm up early next week.
Some meteorologists in Ontario were predicting a polar vortex about two weeks ago for the end of the month, but Cheng said temperatures would first need to hit the criteria for an extreme cold warning, last for a couple of days, carried by a cold Arctic air mass.
With current conditions, it did not appear a vortex was expanding from the North Pole to southern Ontario, Cheng said.
The next snowfall Niagara will likely receive will come late next week, a “rainy” mix, he said.
On Friday, the temperature of Lake Erie ranged from -1.7C to 3.3C, changing in different sections. There is a “little bit of ice” on Lake Erie, which sits next to Wainfleet, Port Colborne and Fort Erie.
With the lake’s surface not solid, lake-effect snow can never be ruled out.
“We’re not out of the woods. There’s certainly a lot of winter left,” said Cheng.